How does a DUI conviction affect you? A drunk driving charge can affect you in ways that you may not expect. Listed below are some of the more vexing issues associated with an Ohio DUI (OVI).

1. Child Custody – If you are involved in a custody dispute (or have a vindictive spouse who would like to start one), a DUI/OVI conviction can be used against you in domestic relations court. Automatic suspensions may make it difficult to exercise visitation with your children. You may also find a court who will refuse to let you transport the children due to a DUI/OVI conviction, thereby increasing the cost or difficulty in seeing your kids. Visit www.DaytonDivorceLaw.com for issues involving child custody. MADD has advocated putting a provision in every divorce decree calling for immediate suspension of parental rights if the parent if found to be driving while intoxicated. At DaytonDUI, we often get referrals from divorce attorneys who are seeking to protect their clients from harm in divorce court by aggressively fighting a DUI charge.

2. Adoption – Some investigating agencies will use a DUI/OVI conviction against a party seeking to adopt children.

3. Car Insurance – Some companies will drop you if you have a drunk driving conviction and others may deny claims. Others raise rates dramatically and still other companies force you to buy “high risk” insurance. You can expect higher costs and less coverage for your dollar.

4. Employment – Given the societal stigma of a DUI/OVI, many companies will terminate an employee who is charged or convicted of an OVI. Particularly vulnerable employees include those who drive company cars, those who drive between states for their jobs, those who are covered by fleet insurance and those who have management jobs. In this tough job market you want to check your employment handbook for any reporting obligations a DUI/OVI require. You have to decide if the employer needs to know, or, if they will be placated by telling them that you are aggressively fighting your charge.

5. Professional Licenses – Are you a doctor, lawyer, nurse, daycare worker, cosmetologist, private security, barber or many other workers required by your state to hold a professional license? Do you hold a security clearance? Holders of a professional license may face a range of sanctions for a DUI/OVI conviction, including mandatory alcohol counseling, fines, probationary discipline, license review, denial of a license or revocation of an existing license. Obviously, you should fight your DUI/OVI charge with vigor to avoid these devastating results.

6. Civil Lawsuits – If you are involved in a drunk driving accident you become a target for victims of personal or property damage. Many times the societal approbation against drunk driving will motivate someone to seek revenge to assure that you are punished for your negligent and reckless behavior.

7. Pilot’s License – Those holding an FAA Airman’s Certificate are subject to reporting and disclosure requirements. A DUI is a “motor vehicle action” pursuant to section 61.15 of the FAA Aviation Regulations.

8. Military Induction – The ramifications of a DUI/OVI may prevent or delay induction into the military. Recruiters are loathe to interfere with an order of any court.

9. Educational (College) Problems – Many colleges, depending on the facts of the case and whether or not the DUI was on school property, will haul you before a disciplinary committee when you are convicted (in some cases charged) with a DUI/OVI offense. These sanctions are further complicated if you are applying to a college or university.

10. Travel – Canada’s Immigration and Refugee Protection Act may prevent entry into Canada following an OVI conviction. [see previous articles on this topic] You may also face travel restrictions if you engage in travel to sensitive places.

11. Immigration Issues – DUI/OVI is not a crime of violence but may still carry immigration issues. Make sure your attorney can get advise from a competent immigration attorney.

12.Commercial Drivers– See the numerous articles I have written on the plight of professional drivers who face the loss of their careers even when driving a non-commercial vehicle on their own time.

13. Enhancement – A DUI/OVI in Ohio is never expungeable and will follow you for 6 years for enhancement purposes. This means that if you are convicted of a second OVI within 6 years you will face harsh enhanced penalties. A DUI/OVI will also require you to submit to a chemical test (no-refusals) for 20 years following a conviction.

Given all the above, many times the most difficult aspect of a DUI/OVI is telling those people you love you have been charged. The National Highway Transportation Administration, MADD, The Century Council, schools and colleges all spend millions of dollars on educational programs and television commercials stigmatizing the act of drunk driving. DUI clients are perceived as guilty without a presumption of innocence afforded to most defendants. Furthermore, it causes stress and financial concerns in families that can cause minor fissures to become major cracks. If you find yourself charged with a DUI/OVI please contact a competent criminal defense attorney who can protect you from this many-tentacled beast. Charles M. Rowland II has dedicated his practice to representing the accused drunk driver. Contact him immediately at 937-879-9542 or 1-888-ROWLAND

"All I Do is DUI Defense." 24 hr. DUI Hotline at (937) 776-2671 or my office at (937) 318-1384. I've been helping people accused of drunk driving for over 20 years, let me help you.

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Charles M. Rowland II represents the accused drunk driver in Dayton, Ohio and throughout the Miami Valley. Contact the office at 937-318-1384 or our 24 hr. DUI Hotline at (937) 776-2671. "All I Do Is DUI Defense."

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“The day may come when the rest of animal creation may acquire those rights which never could have been withholden from them but by the hand of tyranny. The French have already discovered that the blackness of the skin is no reason why a human being should be abandoned without redress to the caprice of a tormentor. It may one day come to be recognized that the number of legs, the villosity of the skin, or the termination of the os sacrum are reasons equally insufficient for abandoning a sensitive being to the same fate. What else is it that should trace the insuperable line? Is it the faculty of reason, or perhaps the faculty of discourse? But a full-grown horse or dog is beyond comparison a more rational, as well as a more conversable animal, than an infant of a day or a week or even a month old. But suppose they were otherwise, what would it avail? The question is not, Can they reason? nor Can they talk? but, Can they suffer?” ― Jeremy Bentham, The Principles of Morals and Legislation ... See MoreSee Less

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